Brandon Smith (Redwoodtwig)

Bald cypress

I planted 20 Bald Cypress in 2001: A row south of the house, another row west of the house (the late afternoon sun was brutal in that area), a few around the upper pond and the rest by the lower pond.

The ones by the ponds put out those knees quite early on, but kept them next to the pond where I couldn't mow anyway. One of the ones in the row south of the house put up a knee in my mowing area, which the mower took care of with a thunk or two. That was 6 or 7 years ago. It's never put up another knee in that mowing area, though there are several under its drip line, which I do not mow. A few knees have shown up in a path between two of them, but after a whack or two by the mower, they don't get any higher.

Is it because where I mow gets a lot of sun and the knees don't like sun? No, some of the knees on the ones by the lower pond are well outside the drip line and in full sun. And some of the areas I mow include paths between pairs of Bald Cypress that are fully shaded (well, with the light shade they provide). My walking path from the house to the workshop goes between a pair, each of which have knees, but the knees stay out of the path. I do mow that path, but not every time since my foot traffic keeps the grass down. Or the grass knows I want to use that path? Actually most of the grass left, and now that section is mainly moss.

The upper pond tucks itself in for winter by recieving a blanket of leaf and bald cypress needles. The nice green bushes are actually a nasty invading bush, a honeysuckle from North East Asia that shades out most native species, elminating them underneath their spread.